1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved lubricants useful for a variety of metalworking applications obtained by sulfurizing modified natural fats or oils. The modified natural fats or oils, i.e., triglycerides, are obtained by prereacting the natural triglyceride with a hindered polyol and a dicarboxylic acid.
2. Description or the Prior Art
Metalworking lubricants based on natural fats and oils (triglycerides) are well known in the art and utilized throughout the industry for a variety of processes including rolling, stamping, drawing, pickling, cutting and extruding. Aqueous formulations of natural fats and oils are widely used as the rolling oil in the cold rolling of steel to provide lubrication and cool the rolls.
In addition to providing effective lubrication and effective cooling of the workpiece/working elements, there are other criteria which must be met by metalworking lubricants. Rolling oils, for example, must be capable of providing a continuous coating on the surface of the metal. Furthermore, this coating or film must have a minimum thickness and must be substantive enough to the metal so that it will be maintained at the high pressures which occur in the roll bite. Above and beyond these lubrication considerations it is particularly advantageous if the rolling oil provides some measure of corrosion protection to the rolled strip and burns off cleanly during the annealing operation. Most cold rolled strip is annealed by heating at about 1300.degree. F. in a reducing atmosphere to relieve internal stresses built up during the prior working operations and to give the finished steel the desired physical properties. Residual rolling oil must volatilize cleanly and should not leave any carbonaceous deposits or surface discoloration.
In view of variations in the metals being worked and the different operating conditions and application methods employed, numerous metalworking oils based on natural fats and oils have been developed in an attempt to obtain the optimum balance of properties. Most of these variations have involved the use of different fats and oils or replacement of a portion of the fat or oil with a petroleum product, e.g. mineral oil, or a synthetic lubricant, e.g. a synthetic hydrocarbon or ester. Emulsifier systems have also been widely varied and additives have been employed to enhance the characteristics of these oils.
To a lesser extent the natural fats and oils have been chemically modified to alter their properties. U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,607 discloses ethoxylates of castor oil and their use in aqueous dispersions for metalworking. In British Patent No. 847,517 two moles triglyceride and one mole polyethylene glycol are interesterified to produce useful products which are mixtures of mono-, di-, and triglycerides and mono- and diesters of polyethylene glycol. Products useful for resolving water-in-oil emulsions which are the reaction product of castor oil with a polyalkylene glycol and an organic dicarboxy acid, such as diglycolic acid or phthalic anhydride, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,925,429. U.S. Pat. No. 2,971,923 discloses similar products for breaking petroleum emulsions and desalting mineral oils.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,720,695 discloses ester lubricants which have a wide variety of uses obtained by first transesterifying castor oil with polyoxyethylene glycol of molecular weight greater than 1000, and then, in a separate and distinct step, esterifying the available hydroxyl groups with a mono- or dicarboxylic acid.
Mixed ester products having significantly improved water solubility are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,634,245 and 3,928,401. The mixed esters are obtained by reacting a triglyceride with a short-chain mono- or dicarboxylic acid and a low molecular weight polyoxyethylene glycol in a single-step operation. Mixed ester products which are readily emulsifiable with water and useful as metalworking fluids, obtained by treating a triglyceride under transesterification conditions with a polyoxyalkylene glycol and a high molecular weight dicarboxylic acid, such as a polymeric fatty acid, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,817. Blends of the mixed ester with hydrocarbon oils, e.g. mineral oil, are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,108,785.
Sulfurized products based on fats of animal origin, especially hog grease, are known and used extensively as additives in metalworking formulations. While sulfurized vegetable oils are also known, their use is less extensive. Kammann et al JAOCS, 62:917 (1985) disclose the sulfurization of blends of vegetable triglycerides with the methyl ester of lard oil fatty acids. Mineral oil- or synthetic oilbased metalworking lubricant compositions containing animal fat or vegetable oil with a sulfur-containing fatty acid are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,559,153.
Whereas numerous metalworking lubricants based on both unmodified and modified triglycerides have been developed, there is a continuing need for new products. This is particularly so where the new products present economic advantages and/or performance advantages. Performance advantages can include greater latitude in the ability to effectively formulate the lubricant. It can also include improvement in one or more of the properties of the lubricant. It is particularly effective if these improvements are achieved without adversely affecting the other essential properties of the lubricant.